Postmarking and canceling machine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T.' LE A VITT. Postmarking and Oaneel ingMaohine. 7

No.- 235,952'. 7 Patented Dec.- 28,1880.

I Witnesses: 3 Inv ntqr: @9%WW% v @/%d%w4w MFETERS. PHDI'O-LITHOGHAPHER. WASHINGION, D C,

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 T. LEAVITT.

'Postmarking and Canceling Machine.

No. 235,952. I Patented Dec. 28,1880.

'WZtnesse's Y jngjgtorj I fl @Mwunm 7 7 v A 4 Q N-FETERS, PHdTO-LITH GRAPHEB, WASHINGTON, D c.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3..

U T LEAVITT. Postmarking and Canceling Machine. No. 235,952. Patented Dec. 28,1880.

Fig.

'Wi lnesses Inventor:

by flttorney.

NJETERSv PHOTO-LXYHOGRAPHEIL WASHINGTON. D C.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(no Model.)

T. LEAVITT.

' Postmarking and Canceling Machine.

No. 235,952. Patented Dec. 28, I880.

, v Inventorr $42M by was/MAM mtnesss I flt torney.

NJEIERS. PNOTO-UTHOGRAPRER, WASHINGTON, D. c.

I NITE STATES PATENT rrrcn.

THOMAS LEAVITT, OF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS.

POSTMARKI NG AND CANCELING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 235,952, dated December 28, 1880,

Application filed March 30, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS LEAVITT, of Everett, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Postmarking and Canceling Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to a machine for post- 1 o marking and canceling letters and postal-cards,

and is an improvement upon the machines described in Letters Patent Nos. 219,586 and 219,587, grantedto me September 16, 1879; and it consists in an improved construction I 5 and arrangement of the separating and feed ing mechanism; also, in the manner of mounting and operating the ink-fountain, and in the construction of the type and impression cylinders, all of which will be readily understood by reference to the description of the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation.

a vertical section on line at m on Fig. 1. Fig.

5 is a central longitudinal section of the typecylinder, and Figs. 6 and 7 are, respectively, a sectional elevation and an end view of the eccentric for adjusting the ink-fountain.

0 A A are the two side frames, connected together by the tie-rods B and B and the plate 0,

as shown.

D and D are the two parts of the type-cylinder, mounted upon the same shaft, which 3 5 has its bearings in fixed boxes on the frames A A, and D and D are the corresponding parts of the impression-cylinder, mounted upon a common shaft, which has its bearings in the movable boxes D fitted to housings D with the axes of said shafts in the same horizontal plane, substantially as described in Letters Patent No. 219,586, before referred to. The i type and impression cylinders are each made in two parts, secured to their shafts independent of each other and a short distance apart to make room for the feed-operating connectin g-rod, and to render the cylinders less expensive by making the left-hand portions, which serve mainly as feed-rolls to convey the letter 5 or card, very much lighter than as heretofore Fig. 4 is.

(No model.)

used. The type are secured in the part D of the type-cylinder, and the impression-pad is constructed and secured to the part D of the impression-cylinder in substantially the same manner as described in the patent before cited. 5 5

F is the driving-shaft, mounted in hearings in the frames A A, and having secured thereon the fly-wheel F and the spur-gear wheel F which meshes into and imparts motion to the gear-wheel Gr, secured upon the end of the shaft of the type-cylinder D D upon one side, and upon the other side into the intermediate gear'wheel, G, which, in turn, meshes into and imparts motion to the gear-wheel H, secured upon the shaft of the impressioncylinder D D in such a manner that the cylinders D D and D D will be revolved toward each other or in opposite directions and at the same speed.

The plate 0 has its top end inclined toward the front of the machine instead of standing in a vertical position, as in my previous patents, for the reason that I have found, by practical experiment, that such inclination of said plate and the consequent corresponding inclination of the letters and cards renders the feeding of 7 5 said letters and cards more sure.

To the rear of the plate 0, and supported thereby and by the stands I and I, is a hopper composed of the bottom J and stationary side J, in the form of askeleton-frame having its bottom J inclined, with the end toward the plate 0 the lowest, with a throat, 2, between its front edge and the plate G, through which the letters Z and cards Z may be fed from said hopper into the bite of the type "and impression cylinders directly beneath said throat.

To the back side of the plate 0 are also secured the rods m m and springs n n, constructed and arranged substantially as described in the Letters Patent No. 219,586, before cited.

J 2 is a hinged or pivoted frame, forming one side of the hopper, and designed to adapt the hopper to different widths of letters by moving the upper edge of said frame nearer to or farther from the stationaryframe J, said frame J 2 being vibrated or moved about its pivotal connection to the bottom of the hopper till its upper edge rests lightly against the edges of the widest letters in the hopper, as shown.

N is a two-armed feed-pawl, pivoted at o to 100 the lever N, and having secured to one of its arms one or more toothed feed-plates, o, adapted to engage with the front letter or card in the hopper, and connected by its other end to the rod 1), provided with the collar 1), and an adjustable thumb-nut, p whichacts upon the ear q 011 the lever N, through which the end of the rod 19 passes to serve as a stop to limit the movement of the toothed plates toward the letter or card, a spring, q, between the collar 19 and the ear q serving to press said toothed plates toward the letters or cards in the hopper. The lever N is pivoted at its end opposite to the pawl N to the upper end of the lever 0, loosely mounted upon the rocker-shaft O, and adjustably connected by the screw 0" to the upper end of the lever 0 rigidly secured to said rocker-shaft O, by which means the feed-pawl, with theleverN, may be slightly adjusted toward or from the letters or cards in the hopper.

P is a lever firmly secured upon the shaft 0, and carrying at its movable end an anti-friction roll, which fits into and is acted upon by the path of the cam 1 whereby an intermittent rocking motion is imparted to said shaft and the levers 0 and O and an endwise motion is given to the lever N toward and from the letters or cards in the hopper.

Q is another path-cam, mounted upon the shaft of the type-cylinder D D, the path of which acts upon an anti-friction roll on the end of the lever Q, the opposite end of which is firmly secured to the rocker-shaft Q and thereby imparts to said lever an intermittent vibratory motion about the axis of said shaft, and a similar motion to the lever Q the movable end of which is connected, by means of the link Q, to the lever N at or near the middle of its length, said link Q passing between the two parts D and D of the type-cylinder, as shown in Fig. 1. By this arrangement of levers, links, shafts, and path-cams, a positive feed motion is obtained that is always reliable, and that may be nicely adjusted, so as to act effectively without injury to the letters or cards, and works equally well upon either letters or cards, a slot being cut through the plate 0 to permit the passage of the feed-pawl, as shown in Fig.3, and described in my previous patent above cited.

R is the ink-distributing cylinder, mounted in bearings in the frames A A, and receiving motion from the driving-shaft by means of the gear-wheels F 1?, t, and t R is the inking-roll, mounted and operated substantially as described in my patent previously cited.

T is the ink-fountain, constructed as described in my previous patent, and mounted upon a stud, a, set in the upper end of one arm of the elbow-lever U, pivoted at the end of its other arm to the frame A, and provided with the slot a at or near the junction of the two arms, which slot embraces or engages with the crank-pin 1), formed upon the inner.

frame A, and provided at its other end with.

a milled head, by which it may be rotated to move the fountain to or from contact with the distributing roll It. The movement of the crank-pin 1; about its axis of motion is limited in one direction by the adjustable set-screw w, set in an car on the frame A, and working in conjunction with the projection 20 on the elbow-lever U, as shown in Fig. 4.

K is a follower for pressing the letters and cards toward the front or lower end of the hopper, and has secured to its lower edge a strip of metal, (1 and its front face is covered with a thin sheet of paper, (1 or other suitable material, to increase the frictional surface,

as described in the patent before cited. The a follower K also has formed in its front face a recess, 0 directly opposite to the slot through the plate 0, the object of the recess 6 being to permit a free movement of the feed-pawl after the letters and cards are all discharged from the hopper without injury to the mechanism.

The springs n it may be adjusted to increase or diminish their tension by means of the setscrews n n, (shown in Figs. 3 and 4,) which is an important improvement over those springs shown and described in my previous patents.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a postmarking and canceling machine, the combination of an inclined hopper provided with the pivoted frame J and slotted front plate, 0, the feed-pawl N, having toothed feed-plates 0, and the follower K, having front recess, 0 all constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as described.

2. The combination of the feed-pawl N, lever N, provided with the ear q, rod 19, collar 1), adjustable nut 1'2 and spring q, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described.

3. The combination of the two-armed feedpawl N, pivoted at 0 to the lever N, and having secured to its upper arm one or more toothed feed-plates, 0, and connected by its lower end to the rod 19, carrying spring q, with the lever N, having ear q, the lever O, mounted loosely upon the shaft 0, the lever 0 rigidly attached to said shaft and provided with a slot in its upper end, the bolt 4, adapted to clamp the levers O and 0 together, the lever P, provided with an anti-friction roll, and the path-cam 1 all constructed and arranged substantially as described.

4. The combination of the feed-pawl N, lever N, rod 1), provided with collar p and nut 19 spring q, levers O, 0 I, Q, and Q link Q clamping-screw r, and the path-cams P and Q, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described.

5. The ink-fountain T, in combination with the elbow-lever U, provided with the slot' u, and the short shaft o, provided with the crank-pin 12, all arranged. and adapted to 0perate substantially as described.

6. In combination with the ink-fountain T, the elbow-lever U, provided with the slot u and lug M the crank-pin Q], eccentric-shaft v,

and the set-screw w, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described.

Executed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 26th day of March, A. 1880.

THOMAS LEAVITT.

Witnesses:

E. A. HEMMENWAY, WALTER E. LOMBARD. 

